Emotional intelligence, student trust and student satisfaction in higher education institutions

Despite the growing consensus that the emotional intelligence of service employees influences customer satisfaction and trust, it remains unclear whether the emotional intelligence of university lecturers affects students’ satisfaction, trust in lecturers, and overall satisfaction with universities. This study examines the relationship between the dimensions of emotional intelligence and students’ satisfaction with lecturers, trust of lecturers, and satisfaction with university. Data was collected from 164 lecturers and 164 students in two universities in Ghana. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data. The results showed self-emotional appraisal, regulation of emotion, and others’ emotional appraisal influence students’ satisfaction with lecturer, and trust of lecturer. However, the use of emotion did not predict the satisfaction with lecturer, and trust in lecturer. The study found that the dimensions of emotional intelligence do not predict satisfaction with higher education institution. On the other hand, satisfaction with university and trust in lecturer are predictors of satisfaction with university. Various implications emerge from the findings. They include (a) emotional intelligence must become an integral part of the training and development of university employees to have a healthy and positive relationships with students, (b) training of university employees must focus on all the aspects of emotional intelligence (c) higher education institutions have the ability to enhance students’ satisfaction and trust as a result of the emotional intelligence of employees, (d) university employees must be conscious of and exhibit emotional intelligence in their interactions with students, (e) higher education institutions can market their institutions using the emotional intelligence capabilities of employees.